Plum Creek Grant Helps Local Kids Teach Community About Cougars

ROSLYN, Wash.--July 22, 2009--Earlier this year a deer carcass, a suspected cougar kill found near the Suncadia golf course, sparked concerns among residents that one of the big cats may have moved into the neighborhood. Trish Griswold’s “cougar experts” from the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District were deployed to explain cougar-human interaction to homeowners, calm fears and introduce the humans to one their neighbors. The resident, somewhat solitary, 13-year-old cat named “ET” had been radio collared throughout the school district’s eight year study of her approximately 75 square mile territory.  A $2500 grant from the Plum Creek Foundation supports a study-related web site and outreach program led by science teacher Griswold and her students to teach the community about cougars and their habitat.

For eight years, students in the Cle Elum-Roslyn School District collected data about cougars and how human activities affect the mammals’ habitat and their behavior. The scientist/student-led study, called Project CAT (Cougars & Teaching), was established in 2000 as a partnership between the school district and the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife. A Project CAT Web site, projectcat.net, was created and is still being maintained by the students. The Plum Creek donation supports the efforts of students to share their learnings about cougars with the community through the web site and presentations.

“The funding from Plum Creek made it possible for students to share what they had learned through Project CAT with the community,” said Griswold. “Last weekend’s meeting was a great example of how wildlife-human conflicts can be improved with education. The kids know that cougars are solitary, territorial animals, and that it would be unlikely that more than one would live permanently in the resort area. They were able to explain this and other facts about cougars to the homeowners.”

The Cle Elum-Roslyn School District enrolls approximately 1,000 students.

The mission of the Plum Creek Foundation is to provide philanthropic contributions to support and improve the general welfare of life in the communities that Plum Creek serves.  The Foundation board meets quarterly to review applications submitted from organizations in the company’s operating communities.  Visit the Community Involvement page on Plum Creek’s Web site at www.plumcreek.com to download an application.

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Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 7 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest.  For more information, visit www.plumcreek.com/montana.